I am same age as this video! obviously these images were not in my mind cos I was just born then. still, i am so happy to see such real image back then. when we have a seemingly better 'look' of the city today, many are wishing to have those days back! Thank you very much for your sharing. Best wishes to you!
I was born in Hong Kong in the 50's and grew up there. Few people owned cameras back then. Your video footage documented the everyday life of the Hong Kong people almost half a century ago - an invaluable footage of Hong Kong! Thank you really very much for sharing.
Thanks again and yes, I'm one among those people want to cry when they're watching your clips. Seeing those kids worked on the street but still wore smile on their faces. You can image their life might be poor but they felt joyful to certain extent. Hope that from your wonderful clips the spoiled young people right now in HK can learn more about their parents/grandparents lives in the old time and how they made HK became a famous international and financial city with their hard works.
Dear Mr Rogge, thank you so much for captured & sharing all these precious images. It brings tears to my eyes every time watching it, not sad, but full of joy & loving memories. THANK YOU!!
Thank you for your video. I was a baby in 1964, under the guardian of my parents. I did not know what the world looked like outside my door. I see women wore Cheung Sam (traditional dress in the 50's)
These collections are superb and capture the essence of Hong Kong exquisitely during those times. Personal videos like these truly show the power of sites like You Tube, enabling people all over the world to enjoy them to their fullest. A most refreshing beak from the norm. Great job!!
Dear Michael, I'm a German HK resident since 15 years and your videos make me want of go into a time machine back 50-60 years to experience the pure HK as it was. God bless you for giving us such a precious insight about our beloved and treasured people and city. Love, long life and health to you, Hans & Vera, Cheung Chau island
My husband and I are so grateful for this video clip. We have lived in Sheung Wan for nearly 9 years now. We love the area so much because this area still has some old traditional cha chaan tengs, wanton noodles shops, dried seafood stores, and Chinese tea shops. Although so much has changed with the town landscape there are quite a few places and buildings where you can almost imagine, feel and smell how Sheung Wan used to be back in the 60s and 70s.
Thank you very much Sir for sharing these. As a hiker in HK, these are particularly meaningful, giving me a profound historical perspective to the trails I walked.
Very nice. I was living in Sheung Wan for almost three years. The MaJong scenery hasn't changed ever since then. Thanks for posting and greetings from Hamburg, Germany.
At one time I thought that my (80) movies in 8 and 16mm had no value anymore. Until I received enthousiastic responses and now they are coming to life again in these 190 video clips.
Thanks for the amazing footage of Sheung Wan. Now it's completely changed. Only the back street famous for dried produce remains the same, but it's so quiet nowadays.
thank you SO much for these videos! i'm only a teenager, so I've only ever been able to see what Hong Kong is like now with all the sky scrapers. always been facsinated by how my grandparents lived and how the city would have looked. truly amazing, thank you so much :)
Dear Mr. Rogge, Others may already replied. At 2:40 the temple and the school adjacent to it are both quite well preserved. The school was built with the donations collected at the temple. The temple belongs to a long time non-profit organization that also built many hospitals serving the residents many whom cannot afford paid services.
WOW WOW WOW. For 99% of local Hong Kong people who lived here in 1964, we have not seen a colour video. Definitely we did NOT have it in colour for TV, probably not even in local movie. Where does this come from for it is genuine ? Totally amazed
wow, hahahahaha, michael, you made my day. i live on "bit lay jet see guy" (bridges st) which is a small dead end street above the man mo temple. there are still some signs of the same life in that video but not as much of course. wow, truly incredible for you to upload this. it's a very important piece of history. THANK YOU!!!
I have more than 150 clips on old Hong Kong on RUclips. There are a few more of Sheung Wan. Too few people recognize themselves in my clips as I have only been able to show a slight portion of the entire population.
Some scenes for the 1960 movie ' The World of Suzie Wong ' were shot next to the Man Mo Temple. To the right, out of shot and across the road, is the building used as the Nam Kok Hotel in the movie. It's now an antique store.
@MichaelRogge Macau has done a good job of preserving its old part and building on new land. The coastline isn't the same but there is a very distinct old town area.
@maestrovso Thanks for your info. Yes, one cannot stop the tooth of time. Here in Amsterdam old buildings are declared a national treasure that may not be demolished. This makes that we still have buildings centuries old.
1964 was the year I joined HK government to be civil servant. My working place was GPO building. It is really wonderful that I could return to that space and time. I just want to cry for that wonderful feeling
I have had so many responses of HK viewesr who could weep at seeing the old HK.. I took them to show my folks how modern HK looked like at the time. I never realised that they would serve half a century later to show what the old HK looked like!.
Sheung Wan has maintained its old architecture relative to the other areas of Hong Kong. Possibly because of this it's become the cool area for young people in the last 10 years, with very high rents as a result.
This is really astonishing to all Hong Kong people who can now see their past, their childhood from your color movie, sure, all your collection and your name will go into the Hong Kong history museum, again, let us say thanks to you.
Thanks so much for sharing this, i was born in HK in 1976, still here now, my office is in Sheung Wan, to think i walk these wonderful streets everyday. Did they smell like dried fish in the 1950's like they smell now?
It's amazing how little has changed in all ithese years! In some scenes It almost looks like this video could have been taken today, except for a few things like clothes
I guess that most of the people in my video clips have died by now. Only the children may have survived. Would love to hear of anyone recognising him/herself in my videos. But alas, noone did so far!
Hello Michael, You could go to google map, there's a street view for Hong Kong and you can have a good look how the state of Sheung Wan is right now without leaving the comfort of your chair. But to sum things up - things have changed much. Enjoy the google street view.
Wow ! Impressive! A video camera like this quality in those days are rare, and probably professional. what occupation are you? Thanks for sharing this video.
The old buildings with the pillars supporting the upper floors all but disappeared. If you look really hard you can find a handful scattered in different neighborhoods. Many are marked for demolition. In my recent trip this spring I was tempted to go into one near the temple street that was condemned and boarded up just to explore.
i'm actually considering moving to Sheung Wan this summer. it looks like rent for a decent 2 bedroom these days runs between $13,000 and $20,000 (US $1,675 and $2,577). seems to be one of the more expensive parts of Hong Kong? those prices are a little cheaper than Manhattan prices, but the apartments also seem much smaller than those in NY. i'm from the US and am not that familiar with Hong Kong yet.
Hi Michael, yes thats very true but those old movies have a magic about them thats sadly missing from modern films. If anyone is interested they can find this location on google earth, its the corner of Hollywood Rd. and Ladder St. At the top of Ladder St. is a set of stairs that Nancy Kwan walked up in the film, with William Holden looking for her in the crowd.
I guess I am a believer in the saying that "Never say never". The chance may be small, but it could happen. I am taking a very careful viewing of all your uploaded videos (of this region). Once again, thanks, Michael.
Thanks too, I shared your clips on my faceny good comments about it. I guess you have no clips of my beautiful island Cheung Chau? Do you want me to take a video of any particular corner of HK today?
@jennylingwong I'm 82 years old and find no pleasure in traveling by plane anymore. Moreover I do not recognize HK anymore. I only go on cruises in Europe.
The Hong Kong people of course, otherwise I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of putting these clips on RUclips. I wish to share my regret of having lost the old Hong Kong.
I tried to looking for my father and mother if they were in the film : D There was a pier between Sheung Wan & Central area, ship to Lantau island in 70s and 80s
Dear Mr Rogge, I'm video producer with the South China Morning Post. I am wondering if we could some parts of this video in one of our productions? It's about a hardware store that was founded in 1959. Much appreciated.
Hi Mr Michael, is this your recorded image? Thank you for sharing this valuable video. Hong Kong was so pure in the past. Now Hong Kong is very different and have become worst and worst.
No, unfortunately I never called on your island to make exposures. Thanks for the offer for a video of HK today. It would only make me 'wehmutig' so don't bother.
Thanks, nice background info. I remember that Chinese audiences always had to laugh at American portrayals of Hong Kong, often hopping from Kowloon to Victoria and Chinese wearing outdated clothing.
After 1997 HK is exactly overdeveloped city. Tall buildings, shopping mall everywhere, meanwhile old street and local culture is vanished. After 5-10 years, there's no difference between some cities in China.
![San Francisco 1906 (New Version) in Color [VFX,60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added](/img/1.gif)
I am same age as this video! obviously these images were not in my mind cos I was just born then. still, i am so happy to see such real image back then. when we have a seemingly better 'look' of the city today, many are wishing to have those days back!
Thank you very much for your sharing. Best wishes to you!
All the images were happened before my birth. They are all the treasure of HK. Thx Micheal
I was born in Hong Kong in the 50's and grew up there. Few people owned cameras back then. Your video footage documented the everyday life of the Hong Kong people almost half a century ago - an invaluable footage of Hong Kong!
Thank you really very much for sharing.
Thanks again and yes, I'm one among those people want to cry when they're watching your clips.
Seeing those kids worked on the street but still wore smile on their faces. You can image their life might be poor but they felt joyful to certain extent.
Hope that from your wonderful clips the spoiled young people right now in HK can learn more about their parents/grandparents lives in the old time and how they made HK became a famous international and financial city with their hard works.
Dear Mr Rogge, thank you so much for captured & sharing all these precious images. It brings tears to my eyes every time watching it, not sad, but full of joy & loving memories. THANK YOU!!
Thank you for your video. I was a baby in 1964, under the guardian of my parents. I did not know what the world looked like outside my door. I see women wore Cheung Sam (traditional dress in the 50's)
Thanks and same to you. I passed your beautiful island by ferryboat many a time more than fifty years ago. Wish you a pleasant stay there.
These collections are superb and capture the essence of Hong Kong exquisitely during those times. Personal videos like these truly show the power of sites like You Tube, enabling people all over the world to enjoy them to their fullest. A most refreshing beak from the norm. Great job!!
Dear Michael, I'm a German HK resident since 15 years and your videos make me want of go into a time machine back 50-60 years to experience the pure HK as it was.
God bless you for giving us such a precious insight about our beloved and treasured people and city.
Love, long life and health to you, Hans & Vera, Cheung Chau island
I'm a hongkongese and born this year 1964, my office in Sheung Wan Man Mo Temple area. Your precious footage gives a special meaning to me.
My husband and I are so grateful for this video clip. We have lived in Sheung Wan for nearly 9 years now. We love the area so much because this area still has some old traditional cha chaan tengs, wanton noodles shops, dried seafood stores, and Chinese tea shops. Although so much has changed with the town landscape there are quite a few places and buildings where you can almost imagine, feel and smell how Sheung Wan used to be back in the 60s and 70s.
Thank you very much Sir for sharing these. As a hiker in HK, these are particularly meaningful, giving me a profound historical perspective to the trails I walked.
I still live in Sheung Wan, though my parents passed away already. Thanks for sharing.
this was beyond memory - I wasn't born yet. Viewing your clip was like seeing my birth place through the eyes of my parents. thanks for sharing.
Thanks Michael. I was a 6-yr-old boy living in this area of the world in 1964. I might see myself in one of your videos. Please post more.
Very nice. I was living in Sheung Wan for almost three years. The MaJong scenery hasn't changed ever since then. Thanks for posting and greetings from Hamburg, Germany.
At one time I thought that my (80) movies in 8 and 16mm had no value anymore. Until I received enthousiastic responses and now they are coming to life again in these 190 video clips.
Thank you very much for uploading this clilp..
thank you for sharing with us such valuable records.
Thanks for the amazing footage of Sheung Wan. Now it's completely changed. Only the back street famous for dried produce remains the same, but it's so quiet nowadays.
Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this glimpse of the past.
thank you SO much for these videos!
i'm only a teenager, so I've only ever been able to see what Hong Kong is like now with all the sky scrapers.
always been facsinated by how my grandparents lived and how the city would have looked.
truly amazing, thank you so much :)
Thanks for translating that to me. The first time I hear of what people in the clip say.
Great footage! I'm living near sheung wan now and I regularly walk past that temple you filmed.
I remember scenes like these. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your records! Invaluable!
@nwong6410 . Yes, they will have a professional digitalisation of the films for their archives very soon.
Thank you very much! I was born in 1963. I missed my parents and the good old days.
Dear Mr. Rogge,
Others may already replied. At 2:40 the temple and the school adjacent to it are both quite well preserved. The school was built with the donations collected at the temple. The temple belongs to a long time non-profit organization that also built many hospitals serving the residents many whom cannot afford paid services.
This is amazing!! Thanks very much for sharing!
WOW WOW WOW. For 99% of local Hong Kong people who lived here in 1964, we have not seen a colour video. Definitely we did NOT have it in colour for TV, probably not even in local movie. Where does this come from for it is genuine ? Totally amazed
It was taken for a documentary film I made in 16mm Kodachrome for Dutch television.
Good job. Thank you so much for making the film & most of all, keep it so well for so long:)
Thank you so much!! This is so authentic.....
wow, hahahahaha, michael, you made my day. i live on "bit lay jet see guy" (bridges st) which is a small dead end street above the man mo temple. there are still some signs of the same life in that video but not as much of course. wow, truly incredible for you to upload this. it's a very important piece of history. THANK YOU!!!
Yes, particularly near the fishmarket!
I have more than 150 clips on old Hong Kong on RUclips. There are a few more of Sheung Wan. Too few people recognize themselves in my clips as I have only been able to show a slight portion of the entire population.
@79snowwolf . Thanks for update. Hardly believable a quiet Sheung Wan district!
didn't realize 8mm can capture audio as well.. Thanks for sharing...
6-80年代頭香港都市就係尼D顏色!懷念!thx!MichaelRogge
Thank u so much, very good Quality
It looks real :)
Some scenes for the 1960 movie ' The World of Suzie Wong ' were shot next to the Man Mo Temple. To the right, out of shot and across the road, is the building used as the Nam Kok Hotel in the movie. It's now an antique store.
@MichaelRogge Macau has done a good job of preserving its old part and building on new land. The coastline isn't the same but there is a very distinct old town area.
@maestrovso Thanks for your info. Yes, one cannot stop the tooth of time. Here in Amsterdam old buildings are declared a national treasure that may not be demolished. This makes that we still have buildings centuries old.
By the way, Michael, your films are great. I hope the hk govt archive has reached out to you. They should be preserved for viewing by all hk people.
1964 was the year I joined HK government to be civil servant. My working place was GPO building. It is really wonderful that I could return to that space and time. I just want to cry for that wonderful feeling
finally,I found my year (1964) when I born in HK,it really colours my memory.tks !! ^ ^
THX ! The year I was born in HK !
hi Mich…thanks so much
Thanks. I'm not a 'firm', though. I was myself privileged to wander through Sheung Wan in the good old times of the fifties, taking my camera along!
Wish the building at 3.53 still exist!
thanks for sharing your video.
I have had so many responses of HK viewesr who could weep at seeing the old HK.. I took them to show my folks how modern HK looked like at the time. I never realised that they would serve half a century later to show what the old HK looked like!.
Sheung Wan has maintained its old architecture relative to the other areas of Hong Kong. Possibly because of this it's become the cool area for young people in the last 10 years, with very high rents as a result.
This is really astonishing to all Hong Kong people who can now see their past, their childhood from your color movie, sure, all your collection and your name will go into the Hong Kong history museum, again, let us say thanks to you.
Thank You very much
Thanks so much for sharing this, i was born in HK in 1976, still here now, my office is in Sheung Wan, to think i walk these wonderful streets everyday. Did they smell like dried fish in the 1950's like they smell now?
It's amazing how little has changed in all ithese years! In some scenes It almost looks like this video could have been taken today, except for a few things like clothes
I guess that most of the people in my video clips have died by now. Only the children may
have survived. Would love to hear of anyone recognising him/herself in my videos. But alas, noone did so far!
Hello Michael,
You could go to google map, there's a street view for Hong Kong and you can have a good look how the state of Sheung Wan is right now without leaving the comfort of your chair. But to sum things up - things have changed much. Enjoy the google street view.
The video clips have been transfered from 16mm Kodachrome colour film, hence the quality.
Thank you
好清，重要有聲，十分珍貴
Wow ! Impressive!
A video camera like this quality in those days are rare, and probably professional. what occupation are you?
Thanks for sharing this video.
The old buildings with the pillars supporting the upper floors all but disappeared. If you look really hard you can find a handful scattered in different neighborhoods. Many are marked for demolition. In my recent trip this spring I was tempted to go into one near the temple street that was condemned and boarded up just to explore.
The hustle & bustle of Chinatown rightfully captured in the film.
i'm actually considering moving to Sheung Wan this summer. it looks like rent for a decent 2 bedroom these days runs between $13,000 and $20,000 (US $1,675 and $2,577). seems to be one of the more expensive parts of Hong Kong? those prices are a little cheaper than Manhattan prices, but the apartments also seem much smaller than those in NY. i'm from the US and am not that familiar with Hong Kong yet.
@jasonng861231 Are you sure? I heard and saw that it looks more like Las Vegas nowadays !
Hi Michael, yes thats very true but those old movies have a magic about them thats sadly missing from modern films. If anyone is interested they can find this location on google earth, its the corner of Hollywood Rd. and Ladder St. At the top of Ladder St. is a set of stairs that Nancy Kwan walked up in the film, with William Holden looking for her in the crowd.
I guess I am a believer in the saying that "Never say never". The chance may be small, but it could happen. I am taking a very careful viewing of all your uploaded videos (of this region). Once again, thanks, Michael.
Thanks so much !
I was born in Winter time of 1964
Thanks too, I shared your clips on my faceny good comments about it. I guess you have no clips of my beautiful island Cheung Chau? Do you want me to take a video of any particular corner of HK today?
I wonder how many of these people are still with us?
Oh hey this is the first time i saw my grandma in color
lol
thank you
@jennylingwong I'm 82 years old and find no pleasure in traveling by plane anymore. Moreover I do not recognize HK anymore. I only go on cruises in Europe.
The Hong Kong people of course, otherwise I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of putting these clips on RUclips. I wish to share my regret of having lost the old Hong Kong.
beautiful :) i definitely see differences, but there are some elements of hong kong back then that still look similar :D i wish i lived back then...
that was a fascinating hong kong !
i never know that the video quality in 1964 is already that good, i thought only black and white existed at the time
Depending on where you go in Macau. There are still some fairly old areas there while the area near the ferry and cotai are totally different.
If they were alive why did they never respond to my vids?
Nice!
勁正！good！
I tried to looking for my father and mother if they were in the film : D
There was a pier between Sheung Wan & Central area, ship to Lantau island in 70s and 80s
Dear Mr Rogge, I'm video producer with the South China Morning Post. I am wondering if we could some parts of this video in one of our productions? It's about a hardware store that was founded in 1959. Much appreciated.
What is your email address?
Hi Mr Michael, is this your recorded image?
Thank you for sharing this valuable video.
Hong Kong was so pure in the past.
Now Hong Kong is very different and have become worst and worst.
I found my old friend in ManWu Temple
Wow, all those buildings were gone in the past 30 years
So do I. Most of them have died. Only few people seen in my 830 clips have survived - alas !
No, unfortunately I never called on your island to make exposures. Thanks for the offer for a video of HK today. It would only make me 'wehmutig' so don't bother.
Michael do you like Hong kong or Hong Kong people?
Life was basic but happy.
Not one overweight person to be seen. How time has changed.
2:49 I wonder where they are now?
whoa, im 13 and i live in hong kong...
and i never knew hong kong looked like that. O_O
年輕人想體驗舊香港住宅的氣氛，可以去澳門的舊城區感受一下，澳門的建築物保育比較好。
At 3:50, when was the girl doing?
It looks she was doing on firecrackers.
If so, it was extremely dangerous.
yes, i think so
Thanks, nice background info. I remember that Chinese audiences always had to laugh at American portrayals of Hong Kong, often hopping from Kowloon to Victoria and Chinese wearing outdated clothing.
Interestingly, the modern Macau still looks a bit like the old Hong Kong in this video
After 1997 HK is exactly overdeveloped city. Tall buildings, shopping mall everywhere, meanwhile old street and local culture is vanished. After 5-10 years, there's no difference between some cities in China.
Those kids are 50+ yo now. I think most of them alive
Do you mean to say that you RECOGNIZED your grandmother?
@betalover1 So true, people romanticize the past but it was definitely not an easy life for most in those days unless you were British.